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A section of the Rhymney Valley railway line is set to close for six weeks from this weekend, as work continues on the South Wales Metro project.

Services won’t run between Caerphilly and Rhymney stations from Saturday July 19 until Sunday August 31.

It will be the second six-week closure this year, after the stretch closed between March and April.

However, rail replacement bus services will be running during this period, matching existing train timetables.

The six-week closure, which won’t affect services between Caerphilly and Cardiff, forms part of an “intensive” eight-month stretch of engineering work to electrify more than 15km of railway line.

Transport for Wales (TfW) said the six-week closure allow most of the “noisy” piling work to take place during the day, to reduce the impact of the works on nearby residents.

It also said the works will allow the brand-new Class 756 trains to run on the line.

However, TfW has confirmed rail services will run on Friday August 1, to accommodate people travelling to Cardiff for the Catfish and the Bottlemen concert at the Principality Stadium.

Further closures

The same section of track will be closed for mid-week evening engineering works, from Mondays to Thursdays after 7pm until October.

While there will be “occasional” closures to the full Rhymney line, most extended closures will only affect stations between Caerphilly and Rhymney.

TfW added that weekend closures are also expected “throughout the year”.

A further extended closure will be in place for two weeks from October 4.